Why did Gopikas reach Brundaavanam every midnight if there is no sexual contact?

[Shri G Lakshman asked:- Swami! If there is no sexual contact between Gopikas and God Krishna, why did Gopikas reach Brundaavanam every midnight and stayed there upto early morning and returned homes before their family members awake?]

Swami replied:- We, the human beings, think that the happiness attained in sexual union is the greatest. God is an infinite ocean of bliss and Gopikas are the topmost spiritual sages. Within God Krishna, Parabrahman, the unimaginable God, who is the infinite ocean of bliss exists. Staying in the presence of the ocean of bliss, even on its banks, gives divine happiness that is million times more compared to the illusory sensual happiness of sexual union. In the day time, Gopikas used to get the presence of God Krishna frequently in the village. For the sages, that much time was not sufficient and they wanted to spend more time with God (Daiva Sannidhi). Gopikas were sages, who burnt their lust in their penance fire and they lived in the forests for millions of past births to learn, revise and absorb the spiritual knowledge of God completely. God Krishna is the embodiment of spiritual knowledge and Gopikas were longing to be in the Satsanga with God all the time. The sages have conquered not only the fascinations for sensual pleasures like sex, but also their body needs like food, sleep etc. A sage is told to be in the awaken state feeling the nearness with God while all the worldly souls are sleeping (Tasyāṃ jāgarti saṃyamī…– Gita). Moreover, Lord Krishna and Gopikas were playing a drama for the sake of sinful people of Kali age. Gopikas have left their husbands for the sake of God proving that they have conquered the spouse-bond.

Leaving husband and seeking romance with God cannot be called as breaking the spouse-bond. Leaving the fascination for lust for the sake of God’s work is the real breaking of spouse-bond. For Gopikas, the risky task of reaching God in the midnight in such ancient conservative society can be considered as the mission of God because through their actions, people present in Dushpravrutti or unjust worldly life (or people actually present in Dushpravrutti but appearing as if they are present in Pravrutti) get attracted to the divine beauty of the spiritual preacher and on hearing the spiritual knowledge from the divine preacher, they get transformed into the souls of Pravrutti very soon (Kṣipraṃ bhavati dharmātmā…– Gita). The Dushpravrutti souls of Kali age will have so much fascination for sex that they try to commit suicide if their fascination is not fulfilled and some cruel souls even go to the extent of killing the beloved person if he/she doesn’t agree. This same attitude can be seen in the Gopikas, who forced God Krishna to dance with them and threatened Him that they will commit suicide if their wish is not fulfilled. Although the Gopikas were playing this drama as scripted by God, they were well aware of themselves as sages and not at all ignorant. That is why even when God Krishna created His illusory forms to dance with them, they did not dance with romantic feeling, but had a feeling of brother and sister inside their mind. They very well knew that God will not spoil His celibacy under any circumstance.

But externally, when we see a man and woman hugging and kissing in the midnight, it obviously appears to everyone that Gopikas were romancing with God Krishna. This is exactly what God wanted the world to understand so that the souls of Dushpravrutti get inspired by the roles of Gopikas and divert their lust towards God or spiritual preacher (instead of their illegal partner) so that they feel interested to learn the spiritual knowledge, which alone has the power to transform any soul into justified path. Even though the drama has sacred aim, no sin should happen between the soul and the spiritual preacher because it is against the dignity of both God and the sages. When a man and woman are meeting at midnights, everyone assumes that a sinful affair is taking place. Therefore, whether Gopika is in the role of the drama (woman in Dushpravrutti) or taken as the basic actor (sage, who conquered lust), nothing sinful shall happen. Moreover, Gopikas had to act as family members of Pravrutti and hence, the secret time was also essential for their spotless family life without breaking Pravrutti in the society. God acting as spiritual preacher is watched by millions of devoted souls across all the 14 worlds and He cannot involve in the dance by Himself even though it is done without sexual intention. This is the expected state of the devotee and the spiritual preacher.

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